Picked up a copy of Bike magazine in Woolies of all places while getting the groceries with Mrs Monsoon yesterday. It's not bad. Some good content padded with a few cherrful fluff pieces (How to make your bike look cool) but generally a good read.From the same stable that produces Men's Health et al. They are offering a $29.95 subsccription rate for the first year (four editions) so I think I'll be taking that one up if the quality of the first one is any indication.

Picked up a copy of this a few days back.Unfortunately it's a rehash of US magazine Bicycling. About 80% of the content was just stuff reused from Bicycling with a little bit of local content (ie,a couple of reviews, one or two pictures, prices and advertising).Even though it's a US magazine, Bicycling is one of the best with articles about training, nutrition, fluff and good feature articles - like the Campagnolo story reprinted in the aforementioned new Aussie cycling mag. Also Bicycling is one of the cheapest at $8.95 an issue - of course it's a month old by the time we get it.Have a great ride,Peter

Got a subscription to this for Xmas.It is basically fluff with some of the "informational articles" just basically so far from fact it is not even funny.Seems to be the same type of fluff as you find in Mens Health magazine.

sumgy wrote:Got a subscription to this for Xmas.It is basically fluff with some of the "informational articles" just basically so far from fact it is not even funny.Seems to be the same type of fluff as you find in Mens Health magazine.

sumgy wrote:Got a subscription to this for Xmas.It is basically fluff with some of the "informational articles" just basically so far from fact it is not even funny.Seems to be the same type of fluff as you find in Mens Health magazine.

As I said, I am fast losing interest in Ride too.Too much of the same old bikes being reviewed and pages of advertisements posing as product review.And dont get me started on the "Bikes from the Bunch" section.

sumgy wrote:Got a subscription to this for Xmas.It is basically fluff with some of the "informational articles" just basically so far from fact it is not even funny.Seems to be the same type of fluff as you find in Mens Health magazine.

As I said, I am fast losing interest in Ride too.Too much of the same old bikes being reviewed and pages of advertisements posing as product review.And dont get me started on the "Bikes from the Bunch" section.

Personally I enjoy the full flavour of cycling and like to read about that, not just the latest thing the Euro pro-teams are eating or playing about with. Probably why I find so many 'cycling' magazines boring as bat-sh!t and have almost completely dropped off buying them, or even bothering to peruse them in the newsagents.

Don't really bother with any cycling mags anymore. Bicycling Australia and Ride are always months behind. I didn't renew my subscription to Bicycling Times and Treadly (too hipster) and Peleton (too US-centric). In fact, my attention has recently been drawn to kayaking and kayak fishing. It's a whole new world.

RonK wrote:In fact, my attention has recently been drawn to kayaking and kayak fishing. It's a whole new world.

Kayak fishing is a great pastime flicking soft plastic for estuary species, make a great compliment to cycling. But some of the forums can be quite "red neck" remember a post on one the forums that was extremely anti-cycling

RonK wrote:In fact, my attention has recently been drawn to kayaking and kayak fishing. It's a whole new world.

Going OT here, but then there is this Paddle, pedal-drive or sail. All folds down to go on a car top rack.

I also have a sailing background so a certain bias here. I reckon it'd be handy for fishing though.

Yes, the Adventure island has some appeal. As a junior sailor I cut my teeth on Arafura Cadets, then went on to Arrows, Mosquitos and Tornados, and have been a multi-hull sailor ever since. But after sailing these boats I found the sailing characteristics of Hobies to be somewhat pathetic. I have seen the Adventure Island in action though and I'd have to say it sails quite well - for a kayak. As a sailor I'd much prefer a Triak though.

RonK wrote:In fact, my attention has recently been drawn to kayaking and kayak fishing. It's a whole new world.

Kayak fishing is a great pastime flicking soft plastic for estuary species, make a great compliment to cycling. But some of the forums can be quite "red neck" remember a post on one the forums that was extremely anti-cycling

A lot of the guys that fished offshore would use the Hobies with the mirage drive ( the 4.1+m variant) to predominately keep them away from the rocks when battling a fish. just a thought

Yes, I understand the advantages of the Mirage drive, but I doubt the Hobies would handle the surf very well, or be able to quickly cover longer distances. That's why I've been looking at these two kayaks. The Stealth has the advantage of being much lighter and faster due to its fibreglas construction and its hull length. The OK Prowler Ultra is very rugged and has excellent features for offshore fishing but is 10kg heavier and would not be as fast. It would however be more manoeuverable and easier to handle in the estuaries and streams. And the Hobie Adventure Island seems to have all the advantages and is very appealing.

There seems to be as many choices of kayak as bikes, so half the fun will be in deciding which is the best choice.

And of course a prime reason for kayaking is to exercise the upper body. As you say it's very complimentary to cycling.